My name is Will Major, and I am a 7th grade student at University School in Johnson City, Tennessee. I have recently read
the book "Surviving The Applewhites" by: Stephanie S. Tolan. This was an assighment for Ms. Blakely's 7th grade
English class.

The Author and The Book

Stephanie S. Tolan

About The Author

Stephanie Tolan is an artist and a writer. In addition to "Surviving The Applewhites", she authored "Who's
There?", "A Face In The Mirror", and "Flight of The Raven". "Surviving The Applewhites"
received the Newbery Award. She lives with her husband in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About the Book

This book is about a thirteen year old young man named Jake Semple. In the beginning of the book, Jake is a punk
school drop-out. He had been to many schools before, and he even burned down one of his schools. He had been kicked out
of many schools prior to coming to the Applewhite's Creative Academy located in a little town called Traybridge, North Carolina.
During most of this book we see Jake trying to endure the crazy activities of the crazy artist family who runs the school.
The main activity involves the Appelwhite family putting on "The Sound of Music" in their barn. Jake decides he
wants to be an actor in the process. In the end, Jake accepts himself for who he is.

About the Characters

The characters of this story are all artists of some type. Jake is the delinquent kid from Rode Island who came to live
with the Applewhites after he got kicked out of every school on the east coast. E.D is the middle kid in the Applewhite family
who is probably the most organized of them all. She really is different from the others because she dosn't really have an
artistic ability. Destiny is the youngest and is the most annoying of them all, because he will never stop talking and always
is singing at the top of his lungs. Randolph is the father and is a director in the theater. Sybil the mom is a writer and
loves poetry. Cordillia is the oldest child and loves ballet and dance. She never stops doing it either. Archie is the Uncle
and makes tables and chairs for art shows. Lucille is Archie's wife. She loves poetry and any thing to do with it.

This book was very interesting and funny. I would recommend this book to my friends. I think you should read it!